Drug & supplement interaction

Phellodendron + Cabotegravir Sodium

Cabotegravir Sodium brand name: Vocabria.

No Known Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026
The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Cabotegravir Sodium and Phellodendron in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

Phellodendron safety at a glance

Phellodendron overall Use caution Generally used short-term in traditional medicine, but human safety data are limited.
Pregnancy Avoid Berberine-containing herbs may not be safe in pregnancy, so avoid use.
Breastfeeding Likely Unsafe When used orally. The berberine constituent of phellodendron and other harmful constituents can be transferred to the infant through breast milk. Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center) — the full detail is in the Special populations card below. Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Cabotegravir Sodium and Phellodendron? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›
How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Cabotegravir Sodium

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Cabotegravir Sodium is filed under 2 classifications — glucuronidated drugs, oral drugs. Phellodendron has documented interactions with 14 drug classes — the most serious being anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs (moderate), antidiabetes drugs (moderate) and antihypertensive drugs (moderate) — and none of Cabotegravir Sodium’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

Phellodendron Does Interact With Other Medications

Phellodendron has 1,160 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Cabotegravir Sodium isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 1,160 No known interaction 1,670 (incl. Cabotegravir Sodium)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Phellodendron

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Phellodendron. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do.

  • Tiredness / Headache reported in 3.6% of FDA reports for Cabotegravir Sodium Additional detail

    Phellodendron

    “Orally, a combination product containing extracts of phellodendron plus magnolia has been associated with single reports of shaking hands, perilabial numbness, fatigue, and headache in clinical research. However, it is unknown if this is related to phellodendron or some other factor.”

    Phellodendron · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in cluster headache.

    2 sources cited
    1. 14349. Garrison R, Chambliss WG. Effect of a proprietary Magnolia and Phellodendron extract on weight management: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Altern Ther Health Med 2006;12:50-4.
    2. 94901. Kalman DS, Feldman S, Feldman R, et al. Effect of a proprietary magnolia and phellodendron extract on stress levels in healthy women: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Nutr J 2008;7:11.

    Cabotegravir Sodium

    Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Cabotegravir Sodium, and in voluntary FDA adverse-event reports. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for Phellodendron but not commonly for Cabotegravir Sodium: erection problems, heartburn, numbness or tingling and tremor or shakiness.

Effects for Cabotegravir Sodium come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for Phellodendron come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Where a percentage is shown, it is the share of 1,558 voluntary FDA FAERS reports for Cabotegravir Sodium that mention that effect — a reporting proportion, not an incidence rate and not evidence the drug caused it. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Special populations

Phellodendron in Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Lactation Likely Unsafe

When used orally. The berberine constituent of phellodendron and other harmful constituents can be transferred to the infant through breast milk.

DISCLAIMER: This tool is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as specific medical advice. Patients should consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about therapies and/or health conditions.© 2026 Therapeutic Research Center

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Cabotegravir Sodium

This page covers Phellodendron only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Cabotegravir Sodium page lists 29 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Breadfruit (moderate), Brussels Sprout (moderate), Cabbage (moderate) and Calcium D-glucarate (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 18 moderate · 10 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Cabotegravir Sodium page

“Cabotegravir (Vocabria) is an HIV medicine, and keeping its blood level steady is what keeps the virus suppressed, so I read this list of 29 interacting supplements with genuine concern. The one major entry is activated charcoal, a popular detox remedy that soaks up drugs in the gut and cuts how much reaches you.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Cabotegravir Sodium interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Phellodendron as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 393 real supplement products containing Phellodendron, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Phellodendron. Even though Phellodendron itself has no known interaction with Cabotegravir Sodium, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Phellodendron
Top 25%

#310 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Cabotegravir Sodium
Steady interest

#2,022 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?
  • Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
  • Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every Phellodendron reference on this page ↓
  • Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium records this page draws on were last updated July 11, 2026.
  • What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.
Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by .
Supplement

About Phellodendron

What is Phellodendron?

Phellodendron
  • Digestive complaints and diarrhea
  • Inflammation and joint discomfort
  • Stress and weight management (in combination products)
  • Skin conditions (topical, traditional)
  • Antimicrobial support

Phellodendron is a traditional Chinese medicine bark (Huang Bai) that contains berberine and other plant compounds with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity in lab studies. Human evidence for most uses is limited, and it is often sold in combination with other herbs, making its individual effects hard to judge. Talk with your pharmacist or doctor before using it, and avoid it during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Phellodendron amurense · Rutaceae · Bark (cortex) · Capsules, tablets, powders, tinctures, and dried bark used in teas or decoctions; often combined with other herbs

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether Phellodendron is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our Phellodendron record says about it on its own.

Phellodendron: dosing

There is no well-established, standardized dose of Phellodendron for any health condition. Products vary widely in strength and may contain other herbs, which makes general dosing advice difficult.If you choose to use it, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed the recommended amount.

From our Phellodendron monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full Phellodendron monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Cabotegravir

What Is Cabotegravir Used For?

Brand name: Vocabria

Vocabria (cabotegravir) tablets are used in combination with rilpivirine (Edurant) to treat HIV-1 infection in adults and adolescents aged 12 and older who weigh at least 35 kg and whose HIV is already virologically suppressed (virus levels undetectable or very low on their current regimen). Vocabria tablets serve as a short-term oral lead-in — taken for roughly one month — before switching to long-acting injectable therapy.

Cabotegravir tablets are also used as an oral lead-in for HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — helping HIV-negative adults and adolescents (weighing at least 35 kg) confirm they tolerate the drug before starting injectable PrEP. Both uses require confirmed HIV-negative status before starting.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Cabotegravir Sodium

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (1,558 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Viral load increased 109 reports
Injection site pain 105 reports
Virologic failure 64 reports
Hepatitis b 63 reports
Pathogen resistance 61 reports
See full Cabotegravir drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Phellodendron

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Phellodendron — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
1,160Moderate
0Minor
1,669No known interaction
1,160 Moderate 1,669 No interaction
Moderate

1,160 interactions

Showing 60 of 1,160 moderate interactions — see all 1,160 on the Phellodendron page.

No interaction 1,669 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Phellodendron against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,669 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Phellodendron list.

See the full Phellodendron interactions page
See every supplement checked against Cabotegravir Sodium, ranked by severity
Evidence & sources

Phellodendron References

The 22 references that drive our Phellodendron monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

  1. Chan E. Displacement of bilirubin from albumin by berberine. Biol Neonate 1993;63:201-8. PubMed
  2. Janbaz KH, Gilani AH. Studies on preventive and curative effects of berberine on chemical-induced hepatotoxicity in rodents. Fitoterapia 2000;71:25-33.. PubMed
  3. Wu X, Li Q, Xin H, Yu A, Zhong M. Effects of berberine on the blood concentration of cyclosporin A in renal transplanted recipients: clinical and pharmacokinetic study. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2005;61:567-72. PubMed
  4. Garrison R, Chambliss WG. Effect of a proprietary Magnolia and Phellodendron extract on weight management: a pilot, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Altern Ther Health Med 2006;12:50-4.
  5. Zhang Y, Li X, Zou D, et al. Treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia with the natural plant alkaloid berberine. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008;93:2559-65. PubMed
  6. Budzinski JW, Foster BC, Vandenhoek S, Arnason JT. An in vitro evaluation of human cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibition by selected commercial herbal extracts and tinctures. Phytomedicine 2000;7:273-82. PubMed
  7. Chatterjee P, Franklin MR. Human cytochrome p450 inhibition and metabolic-intermediate complex formation by goldenseal extract and its methylenedioxyphenyl components. Drug Metab Dispos 2003;31:1391-7. PubMed
  8. Shanbhag, S. M., Kulkarni, H. J., and Gaitonde, B. B. Pharmacological actions of berberine on the central nervous system. Jpn.J Pharmacol 1970;20(4):482-487. PubMed
  9. Wu, J. F. and Liu, T. P. [Effects of berberine on platelet aggregation and plasma levels of TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in rats with reversible middle cerebral artery occlusion]. Yao Xue.Xue.Bao. 1995;30(2):98-102.
  10. Peng, W. H., Hsieh, M. T., and Wu, C. R. Effect of long-term administration of berberine on scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats. Jpn J Pharmacol 1997;74(3):261-266. DOI
  11. Sabir M and Bhide NK. Study of some pharmacological actions of berberine. Ind J Physiol & Pharmac 1971;15(3):111-132.
  12. Tripathi YB and Shukla SD. Berberis artistata inhibits PAF induced aggregation of rabbit platelets. Phytotherapy Research 1996;10:628-630.
  13. Yin, J., Xing, H., and Ye, J. Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Metabolism 2008;57(5):712-717. PubMed
  14. Zhang, H., Wei, J., Xue, R., Wu, J. D., Zhao, W., Wang, Z. Z., Wang, S. K., Zhou, Z. X., Song, D. Q., Wang, Y. M., Pan, H. N., Kong, W. J., and Jiang, J. D. Berberine lowers blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients through increasing insulin re
  15. Guo, Y., Chen, Y., Tan, Z. R., Klaassen, C. D., and Zhou, H. H. Repeated administration of berberine inhibits cytochromes P450 in humans. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2012;68(2):213-217. PubMed

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take Phellodendron with Cabotegravir Sodium?
We do not list a known interaction between Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.
Do Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium have any of the same side effects?
Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 2 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.
How was the Phellodendron and Cabotegravir Sodium combination checked?
Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Cabotegravir Sodium is filed under 2 classifications, and Phellodendron has documented interactions with 14 drug classes — none of Cabotegravir Sodium's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.
Does Phellodendron interact with any other medications?
Yes. Phellodendron has 1,160 documented drug interactions in our database — Cabotegravir Sodium is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.
Does Cabotegravir Sodium interact with any supplements?
Yes. Cabotegravir Sodium has documented interactions with 29 supplements in our database — Phellodendron is not one of them. The Cabotegravir Sodium interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Where next

Keep Exploring

Phellodendron monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Cabotegravir drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Cabotegravir Sodium supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Cabotegravir Sodium, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 22 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.